The invention relates to a suspension system or arrangement for an axle of a motor vehicle, wherein the axle includes a rigid axle body. At least one leaf spring arrangement on each of two opposite sides of a longitudinal median plane of the vehicle is hinged at a front end thereof to a chassis-stationary bearing axis and is clamped at a distance from such bearing axis rigidly to the axle body. A supporting arm projecting to the rear from the axle body forms a bottom support of an air spring having an upper side braced against the chassis and having an axle lifting mechanism.
Such a vehicle axle suspension system is known, for example, from EP-A-0 137 953. Examples of similar vehicle axis suspensions, but without an axle lifting mechanism, are disclosed in DE-P-2 100 048 and EP-A-0 306 849.
For example, so called combination trailers, which are supposed to be used both as railway cars braced at front and rear ends thereof with a chassis thereof on track-bound carrier cars and as road vehicles, require unusually long spring movements, which in conventional vehicle axle suspensions can be achieved only through extreme extension of the air spring. However, the result of such an extension is the problematic overall height and the risk of the air spring bellows bending and breaking. A similar problem with unusually long spring movements arises where semi-trailers are to be transported by tractors having varying fifth wheel coupling heights that must be accommodated or balanced by a longer spring travel or movement.